Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1887-04-30
Sermon OF Rev. DR.. TalInage.

Text: s Discover n0tIea secret e
anotter.n Proverbs, XIV. 8:
1T appears that in Solomon
time, as in all subsequent period
of thesworld, there were people to-
much disposedto tell:all they knew
1T was sblab, :blab, blab; physician!
revealing the case oftheirspatients
lawyers exposing the private at
fairs OF theirclients, neighborssad-
vertising the. faults of. the next
door RESIDENT pretended friends
betraying condolences. Onehall
Of the trouble Of every community
comes from the fact that5so many
~people have no capacity5to keep
: their mouths Shut.
When Ishear something dispara
.sging of,yol my first dirty is not to
/ tell you. But ifsI tell Eoas what !
Some bod Ysa Ii al said "a Cams you,
and thensgo out AMI telleyerY body
else whatsI told you, and they &c
: out and tell others what | told
them that told you, and we altgo
out, some to hunt up the origina-
tor of the story and others TO hunt
it down. we shall get the whole
community talking about what you
did do and what you did not do.
and there will be as many Scillp>
taken as though a band Of Mollocs
had swept upon a helpless village.
We have two ears bat only one
tongue, a physiological suggestion
that we ought to hear IL good deal
more than we Tell. Let us join a
conspiracy that we will tell each
other all the good and nothings,of
the i'll, and then there will not be
such awful need of sermons on
Solomon's words: "Discoyer not a
secret to another"
Solomon had u very large domes.
tic circle. In his earlier days lie
had very confused notions about
mouogamy and polygamy, and his
multitudinous associates in the mat
riuonial state kept him too we'll
informed as to what was going on
in Jerusalem. They gathered up
all the privacies of the city and
poured them into his ear, and his
family became a Sorosis, or female
debating society of 700, discussing
day after day all the difficulties be,
tween husbdndsand wives, between
employers and employees. between
rulers and subjects, until Solomon,
in my text, deplores volubility
about affairs that do not belo' 6 to
us and exIols the virtue of secret
iveness.
By the powerof a secret divulged
families, churches, neigllb)rhoods,
nations fly apart. By the power Of
a secret kept charities, socialiries,
reformatory movements aud Chris
tian enterprises may be advanced.
Meu are gregarious-cattle in herds
fish in schools, birds in 6ocks, men
in social circles. You may by the
discharge Of gun scatter flock
Of quails, or by the plunge of the
anchor send apart tue denizens OF
the sea, but they will gather them
selves together again. Ifyou, by
some new power, could break the
associations in which men now
stand, they would again adhere
God meant itso. He has gathered
all the flowers and shrubs into as
sociations. You mas plant one
forget-me-not or heart's.ease alone,
away off upon the hillside, but it
will soon hunt up some other for
get-me-n not or heart's.ease. Plants
love company. You will find them
talking to each other in the dew.
A galaxy of stars is only mutual
life insurance company. You some
times see man with no out
branchings Of sympathy. His ia ;
ture is cold and hard like a ships
mast ice-slazed, which the most
agile sailor could never climb
Others have thousand roots and
a thousand branches. Innumerable
tendrils climb their hearts, and
blossom all tue way up, and the
fowls OF heaven sing III he branch
es. In consequence Of this tenden.
cy we find men coming together in
tribes, in communities, in churches
in societies. Some gather together
to cultivate the arts, some to plan
for the welfare Of the State, some
to discuss religious themes, some
to kindle their mirth, some to ad
vance their craft. So every active
community is divided into asso-
Citations Of artists, of merchants, OF
plasterers, Of shipwrights, OF plum
bers. do you cry out against it!
Then you cry out against tenden-
cydivinelyimplaut Your TRADES
would accomplish no more than ii
you should preach 10 DuSJ dnG-
hill or bee hive a long sermon
against secret societies.
Here we find the oft discussed
question whether associations that
do their work with closed doors
and admit their members BY pass
words, and greet each other with a
secret grip are right or wrong. l
answer that 1t depend entirely on
the nature of the object for which
they meet. Is it to pass the hours
in revelry, wassail, blasphemy aud
obscene talk, or to plot trouble to
tile State, or to debauch the inno-
cent, then I say with an emphasis
that no man can mistake: No!
But is the object the defence OF
the rights Of any class against OPP